SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Hundreds of people will pack the Minnehaha Country Club this weekend for the Sanford International. Spectators and players alike are also checking out some of the local businesses in Sioux Falls.
Downtown Sioux Falls may be a 10 minute drive from the Minnehaha Country Club, but people at the Sanford International are still taking the time to check out the area.
“Yeah, we’ve seen quite an increase in a lot of walk-ins and increased reservations at both R Wine Bar and Kitchen and Maribella. A lot more walk-ins at Brix Wine Bar and even our new jazz club called Trio,” Riccardo Tarabelsi, co-owner of R Wine Bar, Maribella Ristorante, Brix Wine Bar and Trio, said.
“Sanford International brings a lot of good things to the community. Obviously, we get an influx of people in town visiting,” Noah Adams, general manager of Fernson, said.
Partnerships with the Sanford International also help these businesses.
“This year, we hosted a special event during lunch this week for the players’ wives and it was very successful, that was a lot of fun,” Tarabelsi said.
Fernson has a presence at the tournament through a special beer called the Wedge.
“This is the seventh year that we’ve done our partnership with them in collaborating on a beer design. So it’s a fun experience that we get to put out there for people to try,” Adams said.
Tarabelsi and Adams say the Sanford International also brings a boost to business during a time that might otherwise be slow.
“September is always a weird month because it’s a big transition period between coming off of summer vacation and then kids going back to school, people have new schedules, new routines, sports, you know, traffic flows are different,” Tarabelsi said. “Everything kind of changes. So for about two weeks in September it does slow down a little bit.”
“It’s good to have events like this to keep people moving around,” Adams said.
The first round of the Sanford International tee’d off Friday. Rounds two and three are on Saturday and Sunday.
